The name's Pond, James Pond, Underwater Agent. Just call him, er, bubble-O-seven (a little fish humor). This mod cod's been commissioned to save the seas. Land-lubbing humans are puffin' the squeeze on Mother Nature and have caused some grisly ecological damage to her lands and seas. Oil tankers are sliming the ocean, glacier goons are threatening arctic seals, construction gangs are laying siege to rainforests, and more, much more. Pond must put a stop to this eco-nightmare, fast!

Hooked on Ecology

Pond faces 12 vertically and horizontally scrolling missions, each with kitschy James Bond-esque titles, such as "A View to a Spill", "Fish Fingers", and "For Your Fins Only". "Seek, save, and destroy" is the theme du jour, and Pond's tasks include leading helpless fish out of polluted waters, recovering stolen treasure, and plugging holes in leaky oil tankers.

All the oil and chemical seepage has done little to improve the personalities of the sea creatures. Fish, crabs, snails, starfish, and even the ghost of Bluebeard the Pirate have jumped onto the anti-Pond bandwagon. None of the enemies are powerful enough to filet Pond with one blow, but they tend to attack in droves from every direction. And don't wait for "big bosses" -- there aren't any.

ProTips:

In Mission Four, "The Fish With The Golden Bar", use the Mushroom Trans porter, located just to the right of Home Pipe, to quickly warp to the boat where you store the gold bars.

Bubble Trouble

You could say Pond is full of hot air. A flick of the control button and his fish lips blast out huge bubbles, which trap enemies upon contact. In addition to these nasty blasts of breath, Pond finds items a-plenty; good and bad. Some good items equip Pond with extra bubble power and temporary invincibility. Bad items might make him tipsy or render him temporarily immobile. A fish for all occasions, Pond's can also use his tail like a pogo stick to hop around on land to retrieve needed items.

A fishbowl over the head can prove to be very handy for those out of water excursions. Look for it on the beach, somewhere between the first and fifth mission.

The action, doesn't make any major waves, but it will keep your mind off your chores for a while. Exploring the graphically gorgeous caves, sunken ships, and beaches is fun, but if it's heated combat you're after, well, this game's a bit of a cold fish.

Uncover invisible bonus blocks by jumping in and out of the water.

Filet 0' Fun

In a clamshell, James Pond Underwater Agent is just plain cute. If you're a beginning gamer or a tired gamer who just wants something fun and not too frantic to relax with, this game's a fresh catch. The graphics are pretty, the music's easy on the ears, and it even offers a mellow ecological message. Cast a line for James Pond.

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James Pond Downloads

In this game there are a few places that will allow you to warp to higher missions in the game. In each mission you must first save or gather all available fish, lobster or gold before you can warp. The photos below will show you where to locate the warps. Thanks go out to three people for sending in these Easter eggs: Richard Devorin of Elmhurst, New York; Garret Ulmer of Oxnard, California; and Andy Taylor of Coronado, California.

In the first mission you must save all the lobster for two known warps to open. The first is located in the seaweed to the left of the entrance pipe next to a white rock. Position Double Bubble Seven over the seaweed and push down. This will take you to Mission 6.

Also on Mission 1 is a warp that will take you to Mission 11. Once you have saved the lobster, go to the far left, and jump out of the water onto the ledge. Move to the edge and push down.

You can find a warp in Mission 2 that will take you to Mission 10. Save all the fish from the toxic waste, then move to the right of the entrance pipe at the start of the flat ground and push down.

Finally, in Mission 4 there is a warp that will take you to Mission 8. After you find all the gold bars, go to the top-left corner of the Section-1 screen below the entrance pipe. Go to the position shown in the photo and push down.

reggie posted a review

Manufacturer: ELECTRONIC ARTS

Machine: Sega Genesis

He doesn't look like Sean Connery, Roger Moore or Timothy Dalton. Beautiful women don't throw themselves at his feet. He doesn't even have feet. He doesn't drive fancy cars, and he doesn't have a license to kill. Nonetheless, James Pond is a secret agent extraordinaire. He's also a fish.

In this arcade-style underwater spy romp, you get to control James Pond as he struggles to complete a dozen dangerous missions, each demanding quick thinking and fast reactions. The missions, whose names are reminiscent of another famous spy's adventures, have Pond swimming through peril-ridden caverns, sunken shipwrecks and secret chambers while avoiding all types of undersea villains, including oysters, squids, jellyfish, pelicans, killer fish and more.

Of course, being a top-notch secret agent, James Pond has a way to deal with all those villains. When the bad guys attack, Pond can defend himself with his special underwater gun, which encases an assailant in a tough bubble. Popping the bubble will not only destroy the villain, but also may reward Pond with a bonus item or power-up. If Pond doesn't pop the bubble in time, the enemy is released.

In lieu of his bubble gun, James Pond can select a defense from an oceanful of special items. Some items reward Pond only with bonus points, while others supply our marine operative with additional powers. Fairy wands, for example, make James Pond temporarily invincible, while potion bottles destroy all enemies on the screen. In addition, clocks give Pond extra time in which to complete his current mission, and hearts give him extra lives.

While he is scurrying to grab power-ups, James Pond must avoid the many dangerous objects mixed in with the goodies on the ocean floor. These include whiskey bottles that make Pond drunk, glue pots that stick him to the seabed, skull potions that turn enemies doubly mean and bombs that explode shortly after being touched.

In each mission, Pond will stumble upon hidden rooms. These rooms may be good, bad or neutral. Good rooms contain special items, bad rooms contain enemies and neutral rooms contain a combination of both. Frequently Pond will discover starfish in a secret room. Depending on their color, starfish give Pond super speed, maximum energy or extra bubble power. The dark starfish, the only one that deep-sea agents should avoid, sticks to Pond and hampers his movement.

Each of the twelve missions has a different objective. In "licence to bubble" you must help Pond find keys that will release six lobsters from their traps. In "the fish with the golden bar", Pond must recover eight gold bars lost in a shipwreck. Other adventures include "a view to a spill", in which Pond must destroy a leaking oil platform; "for your fins only", which has our hero recovering toxic waste containers; "leak and let die", wherein Pond must find sponges and use them to plug holes in two leaking oil tankers; and "moneyraker", which drops Pond into the lost city of Atlantis to locate priceless vases. Other levels are "from three-mile island with love", "fishfingers", "they only live once", "orchids are forever", "the mermaid who loved me" and "Dr. Maybe".

James Pond is an entertaining and challenging undersea caper that should please just about anyone. Its scenarios are fresh, the graphics crisp and colorful and the game play addicting. If you're going to take on the persona of a fish, it might as well be "Pond. James Pond".

reggie posted a review

Levels: 18

Theme: Action

Players: 1

Difficulty: Easy

My name in Pond...James Pond. Your mission is to find out who is polluting the water before all sea life is lost. With missions like For Your Fins Only and Fishfingers, this soft is pure fun!

reggie posted a review

The name is Pond,...James Pond. He's a fish loaded to the gills with problems as much of his under-sea habitat is slowly being destroyed by mankind. Take on 12 perilous missions appropriately titled - A View to a Spill or For Your Fins Only. Give this lighthearted game a try just for the halibut as you could hooked on it!

reggie posted a review

Pond, James Pond, one of Electronic Arts' latest brainchildren is due to make a splash, very soon, in an ocean near you. Agent Pond is a real cad, uhhh, cod. He's a fish-spy extraordinaire and a suave mermaid's man, who's been reeled in for 12 extraordinary underwater missions. Unlike that movie star landlubber with the similar name, James Pond has no guns or fancy wristwatches to protect him, and he attempts great feats of bravery to protect the environment, such as disposing of toxic waste containers (Mission 5 -- "For Your Fins Only") and recovering hidden contraband gunk (Mission 6 -- "Fishfingers").
Pond draws upon his own strength, blowing bubbles, to trap his many saltwater enemies, including the ghost of Blue Beard, feisty starfish, and mutant mackerels -- just call him Bubble-O-Seven, secret agent of the seas!